Regarding the school spirit, many traditions, huge alumni network that continually return to campus/send their kids/donate time & money, pride in being an Aggie, etc. (NOT regarding academics)
This is just out of curiosity because A&M seems one-of-a-kind surrounding these areas. Wondering if there are other schools out there with similar support.
Thanks!
Probably not, no.
@b16yer - We are OOS, so I maybe not as qualified as others to comment. However, we have visited 21 colleges and TAMU is definitely unique. My upcoming junior (senior standing) son is not very rah-rah and could not care less about athletics. But he is proud to be an Aggie and will be buying his class ring this fall.
I’m pretty old and had never been on campus before, but I still got goosebumps on our tour. I also was a guest at Aggie Muster in DC about 20 years ago. It was crazy to see senior military and government officials jumping around like kids at yell practice and then the Muster ceremony was very moving.
School spirit: Hundreds in the US
Many Traditions: Also hundreds. We are indeed blessed in the USA
Huge Alumni network: Texas alone has two dominant schools with huge alumni networks. And there are 50 states and private elite schools also with >$1B endowments.
Pride: More an American tradition than a school tradition. Every state and private.
Again, we are blessed in the US with outstanding universities that are the envy of the world for many reasons.
My kids were looking for school spirit, traditions, name recognition & a good education. Here’s a partial list we visited/considered: Duke, UNC- Chapel Hill, UVA, Clemson, Alabama (honors) & Stanford. We actually know graduates and/or current students at every one of these. My kids both independently picked TAMU. Strength of alumni network was also a consideration - IMO Aggies are extremely loyal. These other schools also have great traditions, their ‘reach’ of influence isn’t necessarily quite as strong for some of the schools but others are comparable. There does seem to be a bigger emphasis on tradition & loyalty - and unlike some of these schools, people who wear TAMU attire have a direct tie to A&M normally ( usually a student or parent) where other schools have ‘t-shirt fans’ without any actual connection. We are always approached or told ‘gig em’ everywhere we go if we wear TAMU attire. It is an instant bond. The Aggie ring is a highly recognizable item, that can only be earned & not just purchased…no matter who you are. Tradition of wearing the ring is strong & helps with networking without a resume everywhere you go, every day of the year. I’m sure there are other schools, there are some others we visited that I didn’t list, the above schools we felt gave off a similar vibe to TAMU. We did not go to other TX schools as they didn’t make the initial cut for our personal lists, we are OOS. Yes, there are lots of schools out there but the list dwindles when you’re looking for a ‘total package’.
I’m sure there are other fine schools with spirit, traditions, and alumni support, but Texas A&M takes it to a whole 'nother level.
I would say Texas Tech, but I am not sure. I only toured Texas A&M Galveston which gave me a glimpse of what A&M could be. I plan on touring A&M soon to find out. My brother graduated from Tarleton State which is in the Texas A&M system and it is strong in traditions, history, school spirit. I toured Tarleton and see why he chose that school. I also toured SHSU, Texas State, SFA which to me were just OK meh kind of feel.